Casinos rise as Sands China sees Golden Week fully booked

Macau casino shares jumped in Hong Kong trading after Sands China Ltd. said it expects full occupancy during China’s Golden Week.
Advanced hotel room booking is “close to 100 percent” for the week-long Chinese holiday starting Oct. 1, Sands China spokeswoman Mabel Wu said. The company had more than 9,200 hotel rooms in Macau at the end of last year, more than any other operator, she said.
Sands China reversed earlier losses to rise 2.8 percent at the close, the biggest increase since Sept. 19. The five other Hong Kong-listed operators also gained after Bloomberg News reported Wu’s comments.
“This is the first piece of positive news we’ve seen in weeks after a series of negative news flow,” Richard Huang, a Hong Kong-based analyst at CLSA Ltd., said by telephone. “The bookings indicate demand for traveling to Macau remains very strong, especially among mass-market gamblers who provide higher margins.”
Macau’s gambling revenue fell a third straight month in August as a crackdown on graft and extravagance led to high-stakes Chinese gamblers avoiding the city. The advanced booking rate suggests Macau remains attractive to gamblers even as China’s campaign to clean up government shows no sign of abating.
Chinese visitors going to Macau during the Golden Week tend to be family-oriented holiday makers who don’t gamble too much, said Steven Leung, a sales director at UOB Kay Hian Ltd. So “it remains a question whether these bookings can translate into higher casino revenue,” he said.
MGM China Holdings Ltd  rose 3.9 percent, Galaxy Entertainment gained 3.6 percent, while SJM Holdings Ltd advanced 4 percent. Wynn Macau Ltd  was up 4.9 percent, while Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. reversed earlier losses to close up 0.2 percent. The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 0.4 percent.  MDT/Bloomberg